


New Moon

by moretomhardy



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, Dysfunctional Family, Laura Hale Lives, Laura is a not a very good alpha, M/M, Resurrected Laura Hale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 18:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30043185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moretomhardy/pseuds/moretomhardy
Summary: Laura wasn’t anything like Stiles had expected, and dispute the superficial similarities, she was nothing like her brother, either. From the moment she had walked out of Deaton’s back room and summoned her brother with little more than a look Stiles hadn’t been able to trust her.A post-3A resurrected Laura ficlet exploring a slightly darker version of Laura than usual.
Relationships: Derek Hale & Laura Hale, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 2
Kudos: 112





	New Moon

**Author's Note:**

> Was making a master post of my fics and realized there were several on tumblr I'd never gotten onto AO3. Inspired by [this piece of art](https://moretomhardy.tumblr.com/post/645661816167563264/youve-lost-that-twinkle-by-jana).

Laura wasn’t anything like Stiles had expected, and dispute the superficial similarities, she was nothing like her brother, either. From the moment she had walked out of Deaton’s back room and summoned her brother with little more than a look Stiles hadn’t been able to trust her. He had hung back in the corner while she grilled Derek brutally about what had happened while she was gone up until Cora’s second departure from Beacon Hills. Stiles had slipped out of the room in the aftermath, when Laura had pulled Derek down to sit on floor with her, his head cradled in the sharp curve of her throat. It was hard for Stiles to swallow as he clambered up into his Jeep, because that was _his_ place, _he_ was the only one allowed to touch Derek when Derek was feeling more shattered than usual.

So Stiles had intentionally stayed out of Laura’s way as she bullied her way through town, answering what questions she still had for herself and whipping what pack they had into shape. Neither she nor any of the other wolves seemed to care that she was a beta to Scott’s newly discovered alpha; what mattered was that she was a leader, born and raised, and Scott was floundering.

Three weeks later the wolves had biweekly meeting for training and discussion, Laura had an agreement with the Sheriff’s Office, and the town felt less tense than it had since she came back the first time. Stiles knew all of this only through his dad, through Scott, and occasionally through Erica and Boyd. He was starting to really miss Derek. But Derek had spent the last three weeks trailing after Laura wherever she went, and Stiles wasn’t sure he was ready to confront all of that just yet.

Laura made the decision for him, as seemed to be her wont, a few days later when he came home from school to find her waiting on his porch.

“Laura,” Stiles greeted warily, stopping several feet away. “What are you doing here?”

Laura stared at him, arms crossed, feet planted, jaw clenched, and with an unimpressed look that belonged on Derek’s face.

“Wow. Are you sure you and Derek aren’t twins? Because while Cora displayed a lot of what I’m finding are characteristic Hale tendencies, she and Derek definitely were not this creepily alike.”

“You’ve been avoiding me.” Laura completely ignored Stiles (something else she stole from Derek). “I want to know why.”

“Um, maybe I’m just creeped out by the whole zombie-wolf concept in general. It’s pretty, you know, eerie that there’s two of you just wandering around here, subverting the natural order of death and everything.”

“No.” Laura said calmly.

“Okay, then have you considered that maybe I just don’t like you?” Stiles threw his hands up. “I mean, Jesus, every word is a command with you, maybe I don’t want to be ordered around all the freaking time!”

Laura narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s closer,” she decided. “Are you a part of my brother’s pack?”

That question surprised Stiles, because he had thought that Derek’s pack was a thing of the past. “I’m pretty sure that I was, back when he had one, but you’d probably have to ask him to get the final word, seeing as he was alpha and all.”

“He said almost the same thing when I asked him about you.” Laura cocked her head. “So why don’t you ever come visit him?”

Stiles floundered for something to say for several seconds while Laura stared at him. “He misses you, you know,” Laura added when no answer seemed to be forthcoming from Stiles.

Stiles flinched and took in a sharp breath. “You can’t do that,” he snapped before he could think better of it.

Laura raised one overly-beautiful eyebrow. “I can’t do what now?”

“You can’t just tell his feelings to other people. He’d hate that.”

“He’s my beta, I–”

“He’s your _brother_ ,” Stiles seethed, “he’s not an object you can own. And you’re not even an alpha anymore, if you didn’t notice.”

Laura half-smiled, stepping down off the porch towards Stiles, who held his ground until Laura stopped a foot away from him. This was the closest the two of them had even been while both of them were alive, and Stiles found himself wanting to take another step back as he looked at her. She was as beautiful as Derek always was, of course, Derek’s features losing none of their allure when applied to a female frame, but Laura’s eyes were new moons, hollowed out by what life had taken from her and grasping desperately at whatever she could find to fill the void left behind. Stiles shivered and Laura’s smirk widened.

“My brother is all that I have left, Stiles, and I will do anything to keep him safe and make him happy.”

“Sure,” Stiles interrupted, “you did a great job of that before by running off and getting yourself killed. He was super safe and happy after that.”

Stiles could hear Laura’s teeth grind together, which should probably make him feel something besides mean satisfaction. “I’m not going to be a beta for much longer,” she gritted out.

Stiles did take a step back at that. “What, going on a little hunting trip? Because I think you’ll find we’re not much into animal cruelty in this town.”

“No, I’m going to find Cora.”

“You’re going to kill your own sister?” Stiles gaped. “That’s another thing that’s going to make Derek the exact opposite of happy, I can tell you right now.”

“You can transfer the power, idiot, which is how Derek healed Cora in the first place.”

“That sounds like it’ll be even more fun than the first Hale-sibling reunion.”

“Cora abandoned Derek. She left him as an omega to crawl back to this godforsaken town and beg to be included in this completely dysfunctional pack with an alpha who couldn’t care less whether he lives or dies. I don’t give a damn about what Cora thinks of me, because she sure as hell doesn’t deserve our mother’s power after that.” Laura took a deep breath, keeping her dark eyes fixed on Stiles. “But that’s not why I came here. I’m here to tell you to take care of Derek while I’m gone.”

Stiles swallowed hard. He couldn’t pretend that he hadn’t had some uncharitable thoughts about Cora when Derek came back just in time for the latest crisis alone and even quieter than usual, but he also thought Laura’s plan was all kinds of stupid. “So you came here to hire a puppy-sitter?”

“I came here because I had been led to believe you were the best at looking out for Derek before I came back,” Laura growled, “but I’m starting to have my doubts.”

“Derek’s perfectly capable of looking out for himself.”

Laura just smiled. “Your heart tells me that you don’t even believe that yourself.” Laura took a step back. “I shouldn’t be gone for more that a few days. If I come back to find Derek hurt, I’m taking it out of your hide.” With that she strode off, not reacting at all to Stiles’ shouted,

“And how does Derek feel about you up and leaving him alone again?”

Stiles hissed in fury and stormed into the house, shaking the windows with the force he used to slam the door.

===

Derek came knocking on Stiles’ window later that night. Stiles cursed as he leaped across the room to let him in. “Are you okay?” Stiles rushed as Derek moved through the window. He looked a little worse for wear, although Stiles didn’t see any blood, which was a good sign. “What happened? What do you need?”

“I can’t find Laura and she’s not answering her phone. Have you heard anything from her?”

All the urgency bled out of Stiles at once even as a new anger towards Laura bubbled up in his chest. What was wrong with her that she would leave Derek, the embodiment of abandonment issues, without a single word of warning?

“She stopped here on her way out of town, I think. She told me she was going to visit Cora,” Stiles soothed. “I’m sure she’s fine, she’s just probably on a plane right now.”

Derek did not seem at all settled by the news. “Oh,” he said, swallowing hard. “I guess I should go buy a plane ticket.”

“Hey, Derek,” Stiles caught Derek’s elbow as he turned back towards the window. “I don’t think she wanted any company on this trip.”

“Remember what happened the last time she went on a trip without company?” Derek spat, spinning around to get up in Stiles’ face. Stiles grabbed Derek’s hands, which were balled into shaking fists at his sides.

“I know very well what happened. But she told me she didn’t want you coming with her.” And to be honest, Stiles didn’t want Derek to get in the middle of what could turn into a very ugly fight with an alpha werewolf, but Derek’s own well-being was never a good bargaining chip with him.

Derek stared defiantly at Stiles for another moment before his shoulders slumped and his gaze dropped to where Stiles’ hands were still covering his own.

“Come here,” Stiles sighed, steering Derek to sit on Stiles’ bed and grabbing a book off of his shelf. “I got the newest one in that series you were reading last time you stayed here.”

Derek took the book and just stared at the cover.

“It’s okay.” Stiles squeezed Derek’s shoulder. “She said she’d only be gone for a few days.”

Derek nodded, still staring down at the book cover. “I can’t go find her body again,” Derek whispered after a long moment of silence. “Not again, I can’t do that again.”

Stiles bit the insides of his lips until he tasted blood and sat down next to Derek, keeping his hand steady on Derek’s shoulder as Derek gripped the book in his hands with white knuckles.

===

Laura showed up at Stiles’ door five days after the first time, eyes the same save for a flash of red as her brows furrowed in annoyance at Derek, who was hovering over Stiles’ shoulder. This time, Stiles didn’t move out of the way.

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me on [tumblr](https://moretomhardy.tumblr.com) \-- I'm mostly about The Witcher there these days. This post is [rebloggable here!](https://moretomhardy.tumblr.com/post/645661816167563264/artmania-feed-youve-lost-that-twinkle-by-jana)


End file.
